Webster's English Dictionary

Enter the word to look up:

need

Cross references:
  1. lack                  
 
1. need \'ne-d\ n [ME ned, fr. OE ni-ed, ne-d; akin to OHG no-t]distress, 
   need 1: necessary duty : OBLIGATION  2: a lack of something requisite, 
   desirable, or useful  3: a condition requiring supply or relief : EXIGENCY  
   4: want of the means of subsistence : POVERTY something essential. NEED 
   implies urgency and may suggest distress; NECESSITY carries less emotional 
   connotation but may stress imperative demand or compelling cause: EXIGENCY 
   adds the implication of unusual difficulty or restriction imposed by 
   special circumstances SYN syn NEED, NECESSITY, EXIGENCY mean a pressing 
   lack of 
2. need vi 1: to be in want  2: to be needful or necessary  : to be in need 
   of : REQUIRE be under necessity or obligation to  {he ~ not answer}